The present invention relates to a seat for a vehicle, and in particular, relates to a seat for a vehicle equipped with a headrest.
A seat of an automotive vehicle is generally equipped with the headrest to support or hold a head portion of a passenger. Thus, the passenger feels comfortable with the headrest when seated in the seat. The headrest also performs holding of the head portion of the passenger more effectively at a quick acceleration or deceleration driving of the vehicle.
Recently, a reverse-L shaped headrest, a so-called saddle type of headrest has been used, whose upper portion is supported by a pole member so as to be movable vertically and whose lower portion extends forward and downward. The seat for a vehicle equipped with this saddle type of headrest has an advantage of providing a properly-clear rear view to the driver when the seat is applied to a rear seat of the vehicle. Namely, the headrest may be used by the passenger in such a manner that it is pulled up to its use position when being used and pushed down to its lowest position when being not used. When the seat is applied to an assistant seat, meanwhile, the headrest may not be an obstacle to a properly-clear side view of the driver.
An exemplified seat with the saddle type of headrest is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-65836. The headrest of the seat for a vehicle disclosed here is configured such that its longitudinal angle is adjustable by an electronic drive mechanism provided in a seat cushion, although the headrest is a fixed type that is not movable vertically without the above-described advantage.
In the case where the seat for a vehicle is equipped with the saddle type of headrest that is movable vertically by the pole member provided at the seat back, the passenger may need to hold (grip) part of the headrest to pull up when it is required that the headrest is pulled up from its lowest position to its use position.
However, since the headrest is generally configured such that a rear face of a lower portion of the headrest is located near a front face of the seat back when the headrest is in its lowest position. Therefore, it may not be easily for the passenger to hold part of the headrest and thus the operation by the passenger may be troublesome. Also, for example, in the case where a lower end portion of the headrest is held (gripped) and pulled upward, since there may exist no proper gap near the lower end portion of the headrest, the operation may be troublesome likewise.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-155269 discloses a seat with a saddle type of headrest that is of a reverse-L shape, when viewed from the side, in which the headrest is biased rearward as it is moved upward from its stored position at an upper portion of a seat back so that a front face of the headrest can be located in the same position of a front face of the seat back.
In this seat, the headrest is configured such that its lower end portion cannot be rotated further forward from its stored position at the upper end of the seat back. Therefore, the lower end portion of the headrest may be not used as a portion to support the neck portion of the passenger.